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Tuesday, November 08, 2005

USA TODAY on the new PRIDE AND PREJUDICE film, along with a rundown of the history of Austen's novel on film.

Some of the information in the article gives me pause. When Elizabeth tours Pemberley she doesn't view the portrait gallery, but a garden of nude statues? Okay... It will certainly be interesting to see how the new film fits in with the excellent earlier versions.

I've always been fond of the abridged 1940 Olivier-Garson version, despite the anachronistic costumes. Olivier conveys more with his eyes than other actors do with pages of dialogue. Whenever this turns up on Turner Classic Movies, the entire family will stop and watch it.

The 1980 version, which aired here on MASTERPIECE THEATRE, was highly entertaining. The complete version was released last year on DVD; an earlier video release was apparently edited and incomplete.

And of course the 1995 edition is dear to the hearts of Austen and Colin Firth fans everywhere :).

It looks to be a good fall movie season. WALK THE LINE, with Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon as Johnny and June Carter Cash, has been receiving strong advance notice.

Dennis Quaid, who previously remade the '60s family comedy THE PARENT TRAP, stars with Rene Russo in a remake of another '60s family comedy, YOURS, MINE AND OURS. Quaid is one of my favorite actors, and I certainly hope his new movie is better than the tacky Steve Martin remake of CHEAPER BY THE DOZEN!

Update: This article describes Emma Thompson's uncredited role as "fairy godmother" for the film PRIDE AND PREJUDICE. Thompson, who won an Oscar for her SENSE AND SENSIBILITY screenplay, assisted with the script. (And no, Garson and Olivier were not 40 when they played Elizabeth and Darcy, as the article states. They were in their 30s.)

2 Comments:

You beat me to the P&P blog--but I have lots to say...just need to find time to say it! Even though I think this P&P3 is going to disappoint, I want to see it. So last night I was bummed to see that the limited release this coming weekend means only two theaters in Chicago will have it. ugh. It isn't scheduled for wider release until Thanksgiving.

By the way, P&P1 (from 1940) is also available on DVD now. I might have to put that on my wishlist. I didn't realize that the videos of P&P2 were cut--but that wasn't a fave anyway.

I'm in agreement -- I watched the trailers on line and my family was in consensus that the new version looks a bit drab. (Maybe that's because they're going for the "muddy hem" version described in the article.) But I want to see it very much! I was interested that Emma Thompson did some consulting on this film. I'd be curious to know more about that.

Didn't realize P&P1 (I like the abbreviations!) is out on DVD. I will have to break down and get it at some point. It always gives me a lift!